Day #7: Vienna!

Yesterday we took a day trip to Vienna! We departed at 7:30, drove about an hour and a half, during which I did my best to figure out the best means of transportation to the Zentralfriedhof - The Central Cemetery - where lies the great Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss I & II. I sat near Sister Joan Paul, so she was able to offer some excellent advice.
When we arrived we had Mass at the Kapuzinerkirche, the Capucchin Church. It was decorated in a more modest Baroque style, and depicted a great deal of the Franciscan saints. Beneath the Church is buried a great many of the Hapsburg family members, such as Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph II. Apparently his tomb is a just a black box with a gold cross on it, as opposed to the ornate tomb of Maria Theresa. Exactly as he deserves. I told Sister I hoped he was out of purgatory by the time I got there, otherwise I'd have a couples bones to pick with him. When one of the Hapsburgs was going to be buried in the Church, they would bring the casket to the Church and knock on the door. The first time they knocked they would ask the monk to permit the Emperor/Empress into the Church, listing all of his/her primary titles, to which the monk would reply, "We do not know him/her." Then they would knock a second time, listing all of the emperor/empress' secondary titles, to which the monk again would reply, "We do not know him/her." A third time they would knock, this time saying, "Emperor/Empress so-and-so, a humble sinner, wishes to enter." Only then would they allow the Hapsburg into the Church.
Outside the Church was the statue of a Capucchin friar who organized the battle to defeat the Turks in the Battle for Vienna.

The main altar of the Capucchin Church

The Capucchin Monk who saved Vienna, with Father Brad telling the story

When Mass was over, we were divided up into different groups and taken on tours to see some of the main sites of the city. What a city! There were horses and carriages weaving in and out of pedestrians and a few automobiles, street actors and artists, and brightly colored Christmas decorations strung between the buildings above our heads. We saw the Hapsburg palace, the National Library ( I think this may have been depicted in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade), as it was on the library balcony where Hitler gave his address stating that the Nazis had taken over Austria. John Paul II was there in the year 2000 as well. We also saw the Spanish Riding School, home to some of the best horses in the world. During World War II, to protect them from the Nazis, they transported them to the United States until the war was over. These horses are born black but turn white in about 8-9 years. They were taught to rear up on their hind legs in battle to protect their riders.

The riding school

One of the horses!

The opera house! Home of the Vienna Philharmonic! Not gonna lie, it does look like a train station 

VIVALDI WAS HERE. Right next to the Sacher Cafe and the Opera House!

The library... doesn't this look familiar?

We saw the Vienna opera house! The building is not that spectacular looking from the outside; when it was first built the patron told the architect it looked like a train station, and so the architect threw himself from the roof of the building. It was nearly destroyed in World War II, but was restored. The themes on the inside of the building are taken from Mozart's The Magic Flute, which is a signature opera of the opera house, along with the song "The Blue Danube." Several balls are hosted here between Christmas and Ash Wednesday. Beside the opera house was a plaque stating that Vivaldi had once lived there. :-D
We also saw two of the most famous Viennese churches, St. Peter's Church and St. Stephen's Cathedral. St. Peter's was decorated in the Baroque style and is run by Opus Dei. There is a shrine to St. Josemaria Escriva at one of the side altars. The paintings and the organ were absolutely gorgeous! We could only spend ten minutes within the Church, however, so we didn't get a very close look.

One of the side altars in St. Peter's

The main altar in St. Peter's

The final stop before lunch was St. Stephen's Cathedral. This was a stark contrast to the Baroque St. Peter's, as this church was decorated in the Gothic style. The Gothic style is meant to elevate the heart and the mind to God by drawing the eyes upwards, whereas the Baroque style is meant to draw us to look around vs. up, focusing on how God is present among us and emphasizing the humanity of Christ. The Gothic Church had huge arches and pillars that soared up into the darkness, with lofty windows, stained in pale colors save for the tops where vivid reds, blues, purples, golds, and greens were used instead. The roof is unique in that it has ceramic colored tiles - unusual for a Gothic Church. The stonework looks so light, like lace. St. Stephen's Church is the tallest building in the central part of the city with its huge tower. It houses an adoration tower, and an icon of the Blessed Mother and Child that has been known to cry real tears.

St. Stephen's Catheral

The organ at St. Stephen's. By the looks of the wood the organ looked like it was either restored or  a completely modern instrument.

Cafe Sacher

After lunch, I went with some of my household sisters to a palace/museum once home to a French general that had assisted the Hapsburgs/Austrians in a war. The palace was known for housing the famous Klimpt painting, "The Kiss." There was Baroque, Medieval, Classic/Romantic Period art. We saw a medieval painting of St. Catherine's Mystical Marriage, in which the Child Jesus, sitting on Mary's lap, is putting a ring on Mary's finger. There were paintings of St. Joachim and Anna, depicting Joachim as a shepherd. I loved the portraits and the still life paintings from the Baroque period! They were stunning, and the fine details were so intriguing to look at! For dinner we went to the Cafe Sacher, one of the most famous cafes in Vienna, and known principally for its Sacher torte (pronounced Sacker Tor-teh), which is a chocolate cake with a layer of apricot in the middle and a chocolate icing. It's dry, but I had it with a Hot Chocolate, which was the best I have ever tasted! The foam on the top was like drinking a warm, light, chocolate cloud, and the chocolate itself was very sweet, so sweet it was making me sugar sick.
We finished the day with purchasing a few souvenirs. One day was far too short a time to spend in such an excellent city! We were told during the tour that the quality of life in Vienna is very good: there are very few poor people (which was true, as I don't recall seeing any homeless or beggars in the district we were in). Austrians also tend to be very laid back people (according to a survey, the people in Vienna walk the slowest out of all the major cities). I think Vienna may have been my favorite city I have ever encountered. I wasn't able to find Brahms and Beethoven though, as I ended up separated from the people I was planning to go with. However, a weekend trip to Vienna is hopefully in the works, so it will be a MUST on the itinerary for that weekend, along with the Vienna Boys Choir and seeing an opera at the Opera House, which if you get standing room seats is about 3 euro, and a nose-bleed seat is about 9 euro. What a deal! Ich liebe Wien!

P.S. We may not have seen Brahms and Beethoven, but we did make some very interesting finds!

Herr Mozart!

Master Liszt!

I know that guy! Arvo Part's Adam's Lament!!!! In a music shop in Vienna!!!! 

P.P.S. My favorite parts of the day was: A) St. Stephen's Cathedral. Now that I think about it, it reminded me of that epic scene when they reach the remains of the dwarf city in the Mines of Moria, where Sam says, "Well there's an eye opener and no mistake!" It was so vast, and so sacred, I wish that we could have spent a week in that church. There was a free organ concert going on that night, too! :-(

B) Walking the streets where the great composers walked! Annie and I were wondering what it would have been like to see them wandering the streets of Wien. Of course, I imagined Mozart in Amadeus, swaggering around in his pompous little wigs and frock coat, dashing to and fro amidst the crowd. Beethoven I think would have been off in his own little world, humming to himself, some dazzling melody in his head, and Brahms, a little more social with candy in his pocket for children, a gruff look on his bearded face but a twinkle in his eye.